


In The Halls

by saltybreaddream



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff and Humor, Multi, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tumblr Prompt, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:00:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28396557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saltybreaddream/pseuds/saltybreaddream
Summary: Just a collection of drabbles and prompts I wrote for people on Tumblr. Feel free to request something in the comments or on tumblr ( I have the same user name ) if you feel like it.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger/Fred Weasley, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Kudos: 7





	1. Of Practical Jokes and Twins

**Author's Note:**

> Summary: Someone keeps trying to prank Hermione and she has had enough. The answer to all her questions leaves her both confused and very pleased.

Someone is making a fool of her. Hermione is sure of it. Things have been slowly escalating for the past week and she has half the mind to sock Malfoy again, just to be one hundred percent sure.

At first, it is just a few notes left here and there all over the girl’s dormitory, asking her out. After promising both Harry and Ron torture and curses beyond their wildest imaginations, the boys swear   
they have no idea what is happening.  
They both find themselves recruited to help her out with her investigation.

One night the friends hide under the invisibility cloak, trying to catch the culprit without much success in the matter. There is a new note in the morning and they quickly eliminate people from the other houses when the marauders map showed only fellow Gryffindors in the tower during time of the drop off. Less people to interrogate, Hermione tells herself.

“What are the notes about?” – Ron asks at some point, looking confused.  
“Love confessions.” – Hermione answers through her teeth, then storms inside the library.

She would be a lot less upset if it is not such a touchy subject. Malfoy’s mudblood jokes get brushed off with ease, as well as the comments about how annoying or know-it-all she is. Muttering under her   
nose, she grabs a few books that might help her come up with a good tracking spell.

Some time later, someone taps Hermione’s shoulder, making her jump and almost drop the book on the table. She looks up to see a very amused Fred looking at the book in her hands.

“A fun book to read?” – the twin asks as he takes the seat across from her. The girl blushes and tries to hide the cover. The twins are known for making light of everything. Hermione loves that, truly,   
but this feels like something she wants to keep to herself.

“Just some light reading.” – she answers quietly, observing the boy. There is something odd about Fred. It is surprising to see him without George. Both are always together, as far as Hermione knows. 

On the other hand, she is happy to see the twin alone since it allows her to carefully admire him without worrying someone else might notice.

“So, have you considered my question?” – Fred asks, making her shake her head and look very, very confused. “At first I thought about doing something grand, like a huge prank, but George said you won’t appreciate it.” – he rubs his neck, looking sheepish.

Hermione blinks, repeating the other’s words in her head a few times, just to make sure nothing escaped her attention. ‘The notes.’ her mind provides and her heart leaps in her chest, then gets   
stuck in her throat. Fred’s eyes focus on her face and she find herself nodding.

“I think a date sounds wonderful. Perfectly splendid. Spectacular.” – Hermione is blabbing, her face   
getting redder by the second. Fred smiles and leans across the table, kissing her cheek gently. His stubble rubs against Hermione’s skin, giving her the shivers.

“Good. I just can’t wait.” – the twin whispers in her ear before laughing and dashing out of the library.

Hermione touches her cheek and grins happily, butterflies fluttering in her stomach. What a wonderful ending to a prank that turned out not to be one at all! She cannot wait to see what Fred might do next.


	2. Vanilla Flavoured Kisses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ginny enjoys a day out with filled with laughter, muggle art and ice cream.

“Muggle London looks amazing!” – Ginny whispers in awe as she walks through the ice-cream house doors. When Harry asked her if she would like to join him and the rest of the eight-year students, she said yes without even thinking twice. No one in their right mind would say no to a question like that.

Ginny cannot remember ever visiting muggle London. The lack of magic does not scare her or make her feel weird. If anything, she likes the fact that people are so hands on with everything they do. If she must be honest with herself, she enjoyed listening to Hermione talk, when the older girl assumed the role of a tour guide along with Harry. 

Their visit to the National Gallery is breath-taking. Ginny is no stranger to beautiful paintings, after all the walls of Hogwarts are covered in wizard portraits and tapestries. But there is something that needs to be acknowledged about the way muggles capture beauty without the help of magic. Moreover, the eerie stillness of the paintings allows the imagination to build fantasy upon fantasy if a person spend enough time staring at the art.

They decide to visit the ice-cream house after they have enough of the gallery. Ginny is amazed with the number of flavours she can pick from. She and Ron exchange looks, still unused to having the opportunity to indulge themselves and spend a lot of money. After a few minutes of buyer’s panic, Ginny opts for vanilla.

Very predictable and shy, but she just cannot help it.

Harry, bless him, just smiles at her as if she hangs the moon in the night sky and rolls with it. That simple act of acceptance helps her feel less nervous.

There is freedom in knowing that no matter what she does or picks, her boyfriend will accept and not see it as personal embarrassment. Most of their conversations are about what places they can see next. Ron and Hermione argue and bicker, kind of reminding Ginny of her parents. 

She turns around, noticing that Harry is smiling at her with a found look in his eyes. That makes her blush, and she tries to hide her face with her hair. Her boyfriend shakes his head, then presses his lips against her. He tastes of lemon and Ginny finds out that she rather likes the taste when mixed with vanilla. 

Ron clears his throat rather pointedly, making both Ginny and Harry pull away from each other, blush and mumble apologies. Their hands stay connected under the table, making the ginger-haired girl smile happily while using her free hand to hold her spoon.

‘I could get used to this.’ Ginny thinks as she looks around and studies the muggles. With Harry by her side, as well as her friends, no Dark Lord to threaten them, life can be quite beautiful and exciting. So many possibilities, just like a muggle painting. 


	3. The Taming of the Shrew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco's ten ways of wooing the girl of his dreams a.k.a Hermione is a Saint and he is very, very lucky she likes him too.

So, Draco has this plan. It is a good, Slytherin approved, Malfoy approved plan. By the end of the year, he will have Granger so madly in love with him, she will never look at another person. They will get married a few years after dating, then have a bunch of children and live happily ever after.

There is only one problem, a problem so small it is impossible to notice, namely their school years. Oh, and the fact he is a former Death Eater. Also, not to forget the time his aunt tortured his soon to be girlfriend.

Reality is, he probably does not stand a chance. He and Granger have been working together in the Ministry for the past four years. They have become friends with time. He was there for her when she decided not to marry the Weasel. 

He fell in love with her smile, her intellect and her passion. His favourite part of the day is coming to work just so that he can share her space. He also realizes that all that makes him sound like a creep and she will most likely curse him rather than date him. 

(1)

The first two steps are particularly important. Step one states that he needs to look his best all the time he is around Hermione. He spends a small fortune on robes that showcase his best assets.

Step two is to always leave his home half an hour earlier in the morning, so that he can get coffee for Hermione from her favourite café before work.

He does all that for a good week, but nothing happens. His friend treats him as always and does not really say anything out of the ordinary, or even acknowledge the changes. Draco writes the result in his case diary, because every Auror worth their salt has a case diary. 

(2)

Steps three, four and five are also connected. He starts taking on all the extra paperwork, stays after hours to not only finish off his work but make sure there is no paperwork left to bother Hermione, offers to cover some of her work for her if she needs a day off. At first nothing changes, and just when Draco is about to throw the towel and go back to the drawing board, Hermione pops in with some Chinese takeaway from his favourite place. 

“You’ve been working so hard, I wanted to show you how much I appreciate it,” she tells him, and while it is not a love confession, Draco is desperate enough to take it. They spend the evening laughing over paperwork and empty food containers.

(3)

Step six is all about giving Hermione small gifts. Draco knows that she will not appreciate if he gets her something expensive.

The most important part of step six is to be sneaky and completely Slytherin about it. So he goes to second-hand bookshops or places where they sell books that would appeal to her. Draco tells Hermione that he wants to expand his knowledge of Muggle literature, so he buys a book for himself as an excuse to buy her a book or two.

Hermione is ecstatic with the idea of teaching Draco about everything Muggle, not only literature. That is, in fact, step seven of his plan, in which he wants to prove to her that he is a changed man and no longer upholds any of his father’s views. They spend a lot of time sightseeing Muggle London, attending galleries and museums. His most favourite place to visit is the cinema.

There is something almost magical about movies.

(4)

Step eight consists mainly of Draco asking Hermione if she would help him find a flat for himself. He cannot imagine her visiting him in Malfoy Manor, not after everything that happened there during the war.

Truth be told, he does not want to stay there himself. There are nights where he can still hear Voldemort’s laugher echoing through the empty halls. Hermione helps him pick a small flat in Central London. To his surprise, Draco does not mind living surrounded by Muggles. They are noisy, but a bit of noise is exactly what he needs.

The ninth step revolves around Draco trying his best to get along with Granger’s friends. And by that, he means not murdering Potter every single time that moron opens his mouth. His former nemesis keeps giving him looks that make Draco feel like hissing in the man’s general direction.

It takes him a few weeks, but with enough practise and a lot of patience, he finds himself capable of having a pint or two with Potter without the evening ending badly.

(5)

The last step of his plan requires him to ask Granger out. He picks the perfect date, right after they have watched a musical. They are walking out of the theatre building when he turns around to look at her. Draco opens his mouth, then closes it promptly. His hands are all sweaty and he feels so nervous, he might faint.

“That was a lovely date,” Hermione speaks before he can find his courage. Draco stares at her, his mouth falling open. 

Granger laughs and taps his chin with her fingertips, reminding him to close his mouth. 

“Draco, I’m aware that you’ve been courting me for a while now. I find it adorable, I truly do. But at this point I would much prefer it if you kiss me senseless and take me home for the night. That is, if you are as serious about this as I am.” Hermione raises her brow and smirks at the speechless man.

Draco catches himself nodding in agreement and Hermione all but drags him in the direction of the nearest Apparition point.

Later, when he is about to fall asleep with Hermione snuggled next to him in bed, Draco cannot help but grin like an idiot.  
He totally nailed the courtship.

‘You didn’t.’ he finds written in his diary a few days later.


	4. Lupin's little family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus has his own little family, his little pack. He knows everything about the marauders and they know everything about him. Yet he can't figure out why Sirius keeps stealing his clothes.

(1)

Lily is the first person to join Remus’s little pack. At that time, she does not know he is a werewolf, but that does not matter much. They bond over their love for books and chocolate. With Lily comes Severus, who might not be in the same house as them but is another member of Lupin’s family regardless.

James and Sirius follow soon after.

Remus met them on the train, but all three of them were too shy to speak back then. During their first day, Remus drops his books on his way to Potions and Sirius is the one to help him collect everything. Their hands brush and just like that, Remus cannot look away. The other boy smiles at him and invites the werewolf to share a seat at the lunch table after class.  
Remus wants to say no, wants to keep to himself, but one look at the pleading silver eyes convinces him otherwise. Lunch ends up being a lot more fun than expected.

Soon, Peter is accepted in their weird little group that James names ‘The Marauders’.

(2)

Second year turns out to be a bit more challenging. Lily and Severus discover his secret and Remus is filled with dread. That is until they both take turns hugging him.

They still want to be friends with him, and they will keep his secret. Remus feels relieved. It takes him a few months, but he gathers enough courage to tell the Marauders too.

James ruffles his hair and Peter pats his shoulder. For a few minutes he gets absolutely no response from Sirius. The other boy studies him hard and Remus’s hands start to shake as he excuses himself to the bathroom, not wanting people to see him cry. It is fine, it really is. He is a monster; he does not expect Sirius to accept him. 

Someone knocks on the bathroom door, but he ignores them. A few seconds later the door opens harshly, and Sirius looks down at where Remus is sitting on the tiled floor. He makes a distressed noise and crawls on the werewolf’s lap, holding him tightly. 

(3)

In the beginning of third year Remus finds out that his friends have gone through the process of becoming Animagi. Lily and Severus have done extensive research on werewolves and how they react to Animagi, wanting to find a way to support him during full moons.

His wolf tolerates them a great deal. Even more – treats them as pack and protects them. His wolf takes a special liking to Sirius in his dog form. Remus does not know why and does not bother questioning it. He is already admitted to himself that he likes Sirius a whole lot more than just a friend.

The werewolf keeps that information to himself. His friends already accepted one weird part of him, he prefers not to test them a second time.

(4)

Sirius is being very, very weird. He keeps wearing the werewolf’s clothes. Remus has no idea how to react to everything that is happening. What is even worse – their friends keep giving him knowing looks that border on pure amusement. It should not matter. It does not matter. His heart does not get the memo. 

Every single time he sees Sirius wrapped in his sweater, it does things to both him and the wolf. There is something enchanting about the way his friend’s petite frame looks when wearing Remus’s oversized sweaters. ‘Ours,’ the wolf growls inside him, and Remus must fight the urge to pull Sirius closer and sniff him.

Things escalate just after Christmas. All of them decided to spend the holiday together, at Hogwarts. Remus wakes up on the morning of the 25th to the sight of Sirius snuggling in bed wearing nothing but the werewolf’s sweater and a pair of boxers. He should look away; he simply must turn around and go back to sleep.   
He cannot. To his utter surprise Sirius opens his eyes, still half asleep, and pulls Remus down into his bed.

“What are you doing?” Remus chokes out the question, trying to fight the urge to bury his nose in his friend’s long hair.

“Direct action since you are taking too long to get the hint,” Sirius mumbles and kisses Remus’s lips gently before tucking himself against the shocked werewolf and going back to sleep.

It takes Remus a few minutes to stop staring helplessly and decide to forgo all reason. He hugs Padfoot tightly and finally relaxes.

He does not miss the way Peter and James snicker on the other side of the room. Nor the fact that Lily and Severus are currently standing at the door. Remus flips them all off and holds his little star tightly.


	5. The Perfect First Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James wants to make sure his first date with Lily is absolutely perfect. Except it isn't. Chaos with side of chaos and a drink of well squeezed chaos.

(1)

The only inn in Hogsmeade, also known as ‘Three Broomsticks’, is on fire. Not just your ordinary fire, oh no, it is fiendfyre.

James watches with equal measures of dread and horror. Lily is standing next to him, looking pale as a ghost. They eventually look at each other and both make the unspoken decision to use James’s invisibility cloak to get the hell away from the scene of crime. 

When they reach the end of the village, they see that their friends are waiting for them. Snape and the rest of the marauders look various stages of intrigued. 

“So,” Snape tilts his head, lips twisting into a sarcastic smile, “definitely the type of a first date you tell your kids about.” 

Snape lets out a groan when Lily hits him on the shoulder. 

“Not to poke the fire,” Sirius says while choking on laughter, “but how did you manage to set the inn on fire? Made out a little to passionately?” He wiggles his brows then jumps out of Lily’s reach when she tries to hit him too.

“James did say that he loves Lily with the passion and fire of a thousand suns.” Peter adds helpfully, earning himself a glare from James.

“If you really want to know it was my fault.” James sighs and looks at his feet. He knows that his friends will not shut up until they know every single detail, so he breathes in and starts with his story.

(2)

James wakes up in an incredibly good mood. He brushes his teeth twice, walks around the dorm with only a towel around his waist while trying to pick his best outfit. He even ignores the catcalls and jokes Sirius makes. 

Today is the day he will go on a date with Lily Evans, he will nail all the stops, make her adore him, maybe win a snog or two. It will be the perfect date. They agreed to meet in front of the Three Broomsticks at noon. 

James has a plan, quite simple one: do not mess this up. He arrives at Hogsmeade half an hour before the time he must meet Lily and buys her a few roses. Snape has given him a book on flower language, but James decided to opt for something that is very romantic and tested by many other men, hence the roses.

For a few moments he weights the idea of buying her a present, but his inner voice tells him that it is too much. He clutches tightly onto the roses and waits patiently in front of the inn. 

(3)

Lily cannot believe she agreed to give Potter a chance. He is a menace, and she has a bad feeling since the moment she wakes up. Time moves as fast as possible, making it even harder for the girl to calm her anxiety. Before she even has the chance to catch cold feet, her eyes meet James’s as she sees him standing across the street. He smiles at her and waves happily, which makes her feel relaxed in return.

“Am I late?” Lily asks after she crosses the street.

“No!” James looks anxious as he shakes his head, “My fault completely. I was too eager and came early.”

Lily tries to feel annoyed but cannot help thinking if how endearing that is. James offers her the roses with a soft smile and she takes them blushing slightly. They exchange a few awkward sentences as they walk into the inn and pick a table. To her surprise James is quiet, shy and eagerly listens to her speak. He is the opposite of his usual self. Maybe she judged him too harshly. 

Half an hour later they are drinking butterbeer and laughing as James retells some of the pranks he and his friends have pulled in the past. Lily admits to herself that maybe pranks are not that bad when they are meant as something to laugh at and hide no malice. 

She lets her guard down and that is when everything goes to hell. Surprisingly, it is not James’s fault. It is hers.

Bellatrix Black walks by them and casually throws the word “mudblood” in her face. James jumps to defend her honour, but Lily stops him.

“At least my parents don’t treat me like a broodmare.” She bites back and thinking back, this was probably the worst thing to say to anyone, regardless of whether they are nice or nasty to you.

Bellatrix screeches like a banshee and to everyone’s surprise tries to hit Lily with a curse. James pulls her out of the way, and both look in horror as the cursed fire causes the table to catch fire.

(4)

The marauders stare at James and Lily speechless as the story finishes. Snape is the first one to speak.

“Maybe we got lucky and the harpy burned in the fire,” his voice is business like.

Lily goes to smack him again, but he dodges.

No one else says a thing, probably too scared of Lily hexing them. They start to slowly walk towards the school. No one really wants to be there when the Headmaster finds out about the fire.

“I’m sorry about the disaster our first date turned into.” James tells Lily quietly.

She looks at him and smiles before placing a kiss on his cheek.

“We should do it again,” her voice is playful. “Minus the cursed fire and all that followed, of course.”

She runs forward so that she can walk next to Snape and the friends chatter about something quietly. James blinks, then blinks again. A huge grin spreads on his face and he fists the air.

Maybe not that big of a disaster after all.


	6. Outplayed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James and his friends are victims of a series of pranks. No one knows who the new prankster on the block is.

(1)

There is something very wrong, yet James could not wrap his finger around what it is.

He woke up a bit earlier than usual, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Everyone else in the dorm is still deep asleep. He decides that he might as well get up and get ready for breakfast.

He passes Peter’s bed on his way to the bathroom, then notices that Remus and Sirius are snuggled together in the werewolf’s bed. It makes him smile, knowing that his best friends are happy.

Only if he could convince Lily to give him a chance.

He walks in the bathroom and grabs his toothbrush before looking at himself in the mirror. If anyone asks him later, James will deny it, but at that moment he screeched like a girl. A few second later the rest of the Marauders rushed in the bathroom to see what is wrong.

“Mate… Your hair is gone,” Sirius adds, not very helpfully in James’s humble opinion, then doubles in half with laughter.

Peter, the traitor, does not even say a thing, he just starts laughing and walks out of the bathroom, probably to get back to bed. 

“Remy!” James throws himself at Remus in a rather dramatic, true James Potter fashion, “Please fix my hair! I promise to cover for you and Sirius as many times as you want when you guys feel like snogging. How am I supposed to woo Lily looking like that?” 

Remus rolled his eyes and went to fetch his wand. Sirius is still wheezing in the corner. James swears revenge.

(2)

A week after the hairy mystery, as Sirius calls it, another bizarre even happened to James. He and his friends wake up to find every single piece of furniture, apart for the beds, glued to the ceiling. What is even worse, they cannot figure the counter-spell. Their other option is to tell their head of house, which is equal of an Azkaban sentence, so they rule it out.

“Someone is out to get us,” James whispers when they finally get to the Great Hall for breakfast, “first my hair and now our stuff.”

“I hear you, Jamie, but how do we figure out the person behind this,” Sirius mumbles while chewing a mouthful of toast.

James cocks his head, thinking if there is anyone he can ask for help. His eyes fall on Snape. Sirius notices who James is looking at and hums.

“Snape is friends with Lily, and she does not like you,” his unhelpful best friend comments and focuses on his food.  
James groans and rests his head on the table, feeling completely hopeless.

(3)

Another week passes and the boys wake up to find James transformed into a girl. He refuses to leave their dorm, so the rest of the marauders decide to try their luck and ask Snape for help.

The Slytherin takes one look at James, raises his brow but does not laugh. Thank small mercies, James thinks. He is already humiliated enough. Severus, bless his heart, manages to find what is wrong and brew an antidote for the potion James have been fed.

“You might want to consider apologizing to the person you offended, Potter,” Snape says when James is back to having all the correct bits. “I dread to think what they might do to you next.” 

The marauders thank the Slytherin for his help and Peter offers to escort the boy back to the dungeons. 

James cannot help but feel that there is something more to Snape’s words. He leaves Remus and Sirius in the doorm and goes to the common room. Lily is sitting there, doing her homework for next week.

Lily looks up and their eyes meet. James can feel the butterflies in his stomach. She smiles at him, and James would have been ecstatic, except her smile feels off. Lily looks like the cat who got the cream and just like that Snape’s words make perfect sense.

“You!” James stutters and his face grows red. 

Lily laughs and winks at him.

“I think I’m finally ready to accept your date invitation, Potter. We are on an equal field now,” she smirks and goes back to her homework. 


End file.
